Former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has said that elections in Nigeria are often not decided by voters but are instead distorted during the collation of results at various levels of the electoral process.
Tambuwal made the remarks on Monday during an interview on Prime Time, a political programme aired on Arise Television.
“Elections are not completely decided by electorates. I can say that without mincing words,” the former governor said.
According to him, while Nigerians usually turn out to vote, the integrity of their choices is frequently compromised during the collation of results from polling units up to the national level.
“We know, quite often times, at collation level, be it at the polling units, at ward level, at the local government level or the state level or even at the national level, things happen that misrepresent what voters actually voted for,” he stated.
Tambuwal alleged that politicians routinely exploit loopholes in the electoral system to manipulate outcomes, particularly during the collation and transmission of votes. He also blamed part of the problem on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), claiming that some officials of the electoral body compromise the credibility of elections.
Despite his criticisms, the former governor expressed strong support for reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s electoral process, especially the adoption of electronic transmission of results.
“I wholeheartedly support any reform that will improve the electoral process in Nigeria, including electronic transmission,” he said.
On the issue of political ideology, Tambuwal argued that most political parties in Nigeria are not driven by ideology but serve merely as platforms for personal political ambition.
“If it’s about ideology, what was President Muhammadu Buhari doing in the APC with some characters that we have in APC? I don’t want to mention names, but if you look at President Muhammadu Buhari then, the way he was perceived, what was he doing with some characters in politics?” he asked.
Tambuwal also admitted that even within the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC), politicians who should not be ideological allies are members of the same party.
According to him, the lack of clear ideological distinctions among parties continues to weaken Nigeria’s democratic development and electoral integrity.
